On the usual route from his new home, he would see a dog, handsome, alert, in control of his little territory spreading from one gate to the other of a 9 storied residential tower and a little stretched portion of the road in front of it. He liked the dog the instant he noticed him. He knew the next time he would walk past, he would try to make friends with the dog. He liked the content expression on him. This was an important trait he believed. Happiness he felt was overrated, and content was underrated. It was rare in humans, and this was a Dog. He gave the dog the name that came to his mind that instant, Whosane.
He realized how in Whosane he saw a reflection of himself; of something he believed.
Once an old colleague of his, after continuous days of long hours they had put, and without a vacation since months, spoke to him of what he wished to do when he gets a day off. He said he wanted time to get bored. It was a thought that grew further in his mind, into the possible state of mind that colleague could have been reffering to when he said it - time to get bored. Many years later, he could connect it to what he felt. It was a time when he had finished all that he had to for the day and he sat wondering, but he couldn't. It was the time to do nothing. It was the time to just be. To him, it was the time to be content. It would be momentary, but it would be worth that moment.
Rarely he found another human he could convince on content being more key than happiness. The premise itself would put them off. He would be left explaining how he never undermined happiness, but by then he would be considered a certain version of man who liked pain, or something close to that.
Months passed. He would walk by Whosane, sitting content, pet him once a while, and try talking to him. The dog seemed to listen without reading too much into details, as if he could see the larger picture. Though life eventually got busy, and he could only manage to walk past and notice Whosane sometimes. The Sometimes went on to become fewer than before, and soon he did not have the conscious memory to notice or remember Whosane.
A few more months passed. He finally noticed the dog again. Whosane looked a forgotten version of his past this time, not as content as before. At first he thought he was reading too much into it. It was a dog after all. How was he to be content or not, and have a way to express it. A night such, on his way back from work, he stopped over to play with Whosane. The dog took a while to come to him. He looked more distrustful than before. Maybe it was a bit more than that he thought, maybe he was scared. But it came around eventually, he petted the dog for sometime, and then he left for his apartment holding his palm up in the air, like he always did after he petted a stray, uncomfortable, till he found a place to wash his hands. All this while though, he kept wondering about Whosane, about he not being content anymore, had any merit in it.
He stopped over again, within a few days. Whosane came to him with more eagerness than before, but he looked more pale as well. While he petted him, the dog kept looking around. Soon there was a bunch of other dogs around him. He remembered them, because he used to pet them all initially, because they were all a troop once, and they wont let him only pet Whosane. Now however the air was different. Whosane seemed threatened by them and it stuck closer to his legs and followed him like a shadow, protecting himself from the other dogs. The message was clear. Whosane's territory was invaded by the other dogs. It became apparent why he did not seem content anymore. The dog was under threat. Whosane barked at the other dogs, they barked back at him. This was their war for territory. He realized he had himself surrounded by ferociously barking dogs with Whosane behind him, barking back at them, visibly scared. There is nothing he could do. He knew Whosane would have to fight them off, alone. His once mates had become the reason for his trouble, and he was alone now.
Leaving the dog behind he scurried out towards his apartment, worried, wondering, and relating....alone..
